


A New Game

by cinder1013



Category: Belgariad/Malloreon Series - David & Leigh Eddings, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Xena: Warrior Princess
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-22
Updated: 2012-08-22
Packaged: 2017-11-12 16:03:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/493081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cinder1013/pseuds/cinder1013
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All of the gods are playing a game. Well, several games actually. When Strife dies, he's out, so he has to find a new game. He ends up in Aldur's study playing the Orb ... and it's really boring!</p>
            </blockquote>





	A New Game

**Author's Note:**

> This story was written several years ago on a dare, I forget from who.

See it's all a big game we so-called gods play. And I got out. Go directly to jail, do not pass Go, lost your queen, total gumdrop bogs, so **not** Mrs. White in the Kitchen with the Knife, Sorry. I got kicked to another game, one that was just starting. Everyone else had already chosen his or her roles though. There was only one left. Crap!

"Whatdaya mean I gotta be a stone?"

"I'm sorry, Strife," Aldur tried to comfort me, "but it's all we've got. You could wait a couple eons and I'm sure another game will start."

"Nah, where's your stupid stream bed? Humph!"

Okay, I hated it at first. It was cold and wet mostly and then drafty and dusty in Aldur's study for several millennia. But, then Torak...wow.

Torak, Aldur's brother, made dear Uncle Ares look like a hippie love child by comparison. I loved him at first sight. He was beautiful and so very evil. I wasn't allowed to have a corporeal body beyond the stone, that was against the blasted rules, but I molded my shadow into a kinda blue-glowy Strife and crawled into Torak's bed.

His skin was golden like Cupid's. In fact, he looked a lot like Cupid. Probably had to do with the fact that they were cousins. But, oh, his eyes. They were green and bright as emeralds. His very existence compelled me to worship him.

"You're not supposed to be here, Orb," he chuckled.

"You prefer to sleep alone?"

"I don't wish to lose the game because you've broken the rules."

"You won't. This is just my shadow." I giggled. Oh, it felt so good to giggle again. Hadn't done that in centuries. "I want you."

"And why would I care for a pale, little bitch?"

I flinched at that. I've been called ugly before, but it never stops hurting I guess. "I can do things for you that you've never even imagined."

"I doubt that, boy. I am the all-powerful God of Angarak, not a wide-eyed scullery maid. I am known the Universe over for my prowess."

"Yeah, yeah. Well, let's put it this way. How about you give in because you need me. Cement our alliance, so to speak." He wasn't winning any points in the personality department, but I desperately wanted to get my hands on that skin. I'd been dreaming about it for years now.

His long, golden fingers tangled in my spiky, blue hair. I could see the calculations going on in that splendid brain of his. One of Torak's many faults; he couldn't bluff worth shit. Everything he was thinking was in his eyes. "Yes, come to me, Orb." His huge hands rubbed my pale blue body and I purred under them like a cat. I crawled up over him, nipping along his jaw, sucking his ear lobe.

"Fuck me," I whispered to him. I was on my back before you can say Gabrielle has fleas. He slammed into me. Sweet Elysia! I howled shamelessly for more. And more...I did not get. Torak came hard after about thirty seconds and then passed out on top of me.

Prowess, my ass! To say that I was supremely pissed would have been way too nice. I was fuckin' hoppin' mad. Torak and I started havin' problems after that. I'm all for death, destruction and all that shit, but I do not side with pansies, especially when there's a game to win. So, when he lifted me to smite the earth in half, I whispered to him.

"Oh, no, Great and All-Powerful Torak, I will not do this. The earth, she is my mother. I will not harm her." Or something close to that. Hey, I knew it would end up in the history books and shit, I had to make it sound good.

"You will do as I say!" He tried to exert his will upon me, but I would have none of it. Torak assumed I was a game piece rather than another entity, and that was his mistake. He probably never read his rulebook. Leave it to Torak not to.

"No, I won't, but I'll make a deal with you." I whispered sibilantly through his brain. Ah, yes, the true death and destruction I cherished. "I will save your precious Angaraks, I will smite the earth who is my mother, but you must make an equal sacrifice. Are we agreed?"

"Agreed! Save my people!"

Stupid shit, should have asked what he was agreeing to. I stole his sanity. Unc was so proud of me. Deimos creamed himself. (They dropped in from time to time to say 'hi,' you know. We were still family, after all.)

Our relationship deteriorated even further after that. In his more lucid periods he tried to badger me into giving back his beauty, but I wasn't about to let anybody touch me. I wanted love this time, simple as that, and that meant belonging to someone pure of heart. I was to have a long wait. Torak, sane or not, was not about to give up the one thing that could heal him, so he kept me in an iron cask. Everyday he came to beg and plead with me. I was about to give up out of sheer boredom when Belgarath showed up.

Now, there's someone I remembered well, and not just from my time with Aldur. "Auto! How ya' doin'?"

His conscious mind may not have known me, but his spirit responded immediately. "Just give me a sec and I'll have you out of here."

I flared warningly at him. "Nothin' doin'. Touch me and die."

"You want out of here or what?"

I looked around. He had four thugs with him. Wait a minute, hello, nice blue eyes in the corner. I looked deep in his heart and found no greed for power, just pure innocence and awe. "That one. I want tall, dark and handsome over there."

Somehow, I'm not sure exactly, Auto's latent spirit communicated my desire to Belgarath and he shoved the kid forward. "Take it, Riva. You're the one." The kid had no fear either and I purred like a kitten for him. Oh, he was a darling, nineteen and innocent as the fresh fallen snow. So very beautiful, long and lean, and like I said, those eyes. Soon as we got as far as the Vale of Aldur, I came to him in the form of my shadow.

"Who are you?" he whispered, wary but curious.

"I am the Orb, the spirit of the Orb. Touch me and know it is so." His hand softly petted my glowing blue arm. "Now, I ain't had sex in for-fuckin'-ever. Wanna get laid?" He stared at me blankly, so I kissed him. It was nice, very nice, but he wasn't the one. Close. Very close. I'd just have to bide my time. The one hadn't come yet.

Over the centuries, I grew very fond of the Rivan line. They were all serious young men, who grew into wise, conscientious rulers, but they all had a sense of humor and I liked that. I like Alorns in general. They're loyal, funny, industrious, and they always like a good fight. I made a point to bond with each of the young Rivan princes. That was fun. And I don't just mean the sex, but to play with them, to ride with them. I made it a point to appear when no one else was around and kind of be their secret friend. It was a blast. And each time said prince would get into trouble his father would just smile and shake his head, because he knew I was somewhere around.

I'm going to skip ahead quite a bit here. I've been playing this game for a long time. I knew I was close to _the one_ the day Garion held me. So very close it made me ache. I thought it was just the heady feeling of being back in the hand of a son of Riva, but...the day Geran was born. Oh, I can't even describe it to you. He is **the one.** I tracked him to the ends of the earth and rescued him from Sardi to make sure he was mine.

I claimed him on a calm, spring day. He was sitting on the beach, watching the tide roll in. "Geran?"

"Who are you?"

I plopped down next to the serious young man sitting on the sand. "Ya know me as the Orb."

He ran his fingers lovingly over my blue-white skin. "Yes, I do know you. Why are you here?"

"It's time ta finish the game." I wrapped my fingers in his hair and kissed him softly. Geran's eyes were large, but he didn't push me away. Instead, he pulled me close. I pushed him down in the sand. "It's all gonna be different after this, ya know that, right?"

"I know." We kissed again for a long time. I was in no hurry. He felt so awesome and I saw the blue nimbus that surrounded me extend to him too. I wished his clothes away and rubbed myself against him.

He giggled softly. "What should I call you?"

"I was born with the name Strife."

"That's a funny name."

I kissed my way down the side of his neck. "I'm a funny guy." Geran's only reply was a moan. I licked his nipples as a reward.

"Should we..." he moaned again, arching into the ministrations of my tongue. "Should we really be doing this out in the open?"

"No one can see us."

"Why not?"

I rested myself on his stomach. Obviously we were going to have to get this out of the way before we could get to the hot monkey sex. "You and I, we're going to go away. They'll be okay without us."

"I'll miss them."

"I know." I sat up and pulled him upright again, close to me. "We're gonna be together for a long time." I kissed him again.

"Why?"

"Because I found you, I won the game."


End file.
